Tuesday the 25th

Back to your regularly scheduled ride

    The weather finally held out for the most part and we had a ride. Chris C and a couple of others ( Timmy Hip, Dillon P etc ) drove the pace early on. There were a couple of points when there was a brief gap to the front 5 or 6 riders but after everyone got going in the heat it was game on. Downer moment of the week when the ride, moving fast after re-connecting with the lead group, came up on the corner for North Brooksvale and some hesitation ( read; flying thru the stop sign was not happening ) caused some riders to chain reaction break and Dave on the Jamis went over his bars. The ride full stopped to make sure he was ok and ride worthy and then slowly got going again.
    It took a little while to get back up to full steam but the action started up again on Mountain Rd. Half the field was still getting going from the stop and the other half was ready to rock n roll, the heads of state were behind the action which made for an interesting cruise down Mountain Rd. Chris C was leading a bunch of riders off the front along with Nuemotion, Dillon P, and a couple of others. Guys were in between, not able to bridge and unwilling to get caught. No one took advantage of the situation with a well timed attack. The wind seemed to be turning into the faces with dark clouds up ahead and that buffeted the motivation to really turn the screws. The Peleton would slowly come around and round everyone up just in time for the red light on 68.
    Once onto Moss Farms, it was Hunter P and Matt F from Devils Gear kicking things off, with Kyle Foley ( good to see him out on the ride ) and Mike McG picking up the slack after that. Late on Moss Farms, Hunter P, Mike McG and one other tore off a gap that they could have taken into the chicane, but cars at the intersection brought it all together. Chris C hit the front on the hill up to Marion and that turned into a trio of Nuemotion, Hunter P and Chris C off the front for a brief bit but as is often the case, attacks are rarely held from there to the light on 322. The CCB toss-up worked well at bringing the gap back and then pressing on but it was gruppo compacto to the light.
    Mount Vernon = boring, anemic pace as the stormy headwind plus wet roads distracted everyone from riding with any kind of respectable speed. The only one to peg it during the long run in to the corner was Mike McG, who took off and held a solo gap going into the false flat. A surge in the final meters for the corner, led by a couple of Yalies ( Spencer mostly ) and Thomaas B got things going toward the sprint. Once on Welch, Hunter P kicked it off followed by CCB. By the end of Welch, it slowed again and was bunching up. Huge amount of guys hit the hill in front... Plenty of strong accelerations but it was all into stacked up traffic waiting to turn so the whole front of the ride slowed to almost a stop for the corner onto West St.
    Chris C lit it up after thru the corner with a couple of guys in tow. Chris B moved up along with the Real-Brian-from-Stage-1. Late getting up to the front, coming across the gap was Jacinto. Behind Little T and Hunter P left it too late and couldnt bridge the gap. The trio of Jacinto, Chris B and The Real Brian went up and over Chris C and from there it was Jacinto getting to the sprint ahead of all others.
   The usual downhill attacking was there afterwards but it was all sewed up by red lights once again. From there it was business as usual heading back towards Cheshire. Once onto Atwater, Hunter P and a new guy from Zane's teamed up to try to pull a fast on the field but that wasn't going to be allowed.
    Fast forward to the incline on Peck ln where Timmy Hip, CCB and Chris C were drilling it single file but not enough to get a gap. That turned into Thomaas B getting to the hill on Route 10 first, followed by Hunter P with a gap to the next traffic light. The run to the Stop n Sprint was held up by a red light but the pace picked up pretty quickly after it. A small group had the gap needed to sprint it out and it was taken by Little T over Yalie Spencer. After the sprint, a group stayed on the gas on got a light in their favor. Little T, Jacinto, Half the CCB duo?, Danbury Audi, Timmy Hip and a couple of others... Maybe someone can list all the names as credit is due the group, who stayed off the front easily after the peleton got caught by a couple more lights. To the guys in the pack who threw caution to the wind to try and get somewhere ahead of the rest, sorry... No shout-outs here... Next time, work harder, earlier to make sure you get in the group that takes all the marbles. We will however give some props to Stephen Gibertoni, who very nearly got taken out by a SUV coming out of Mount Sanford Rd late down Route 10. Glad he swerved so fast... That woulda been ugly.